


Salvation is...

by dvrthncx



Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: Coruscant (Star Wars), Jedi, Jedi Knight, Jedi Knights (Star Wars), Old Republic Era, Sith Pureblood, at the republic, but in a good way, just let me love you, oups her sith passion is showing, she just wants to be accepted man, she's just out there like, the smol marshmallow has marshmallow feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:42:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26101357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dvrthncx/pseuds/dvrthncx
Summary: Nevar'ija sets foot on Coruscant for the first time... something she never thought would happen.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	Salvation is...

The thrusters re-engaged and the shuttle started to move slowly downward as the douane ships circled up and away back to the orbital station. During the inspection and code clearance Nevar’ija had studiously and calmly stayed seated near the window, seemingly patient as ever as the captain dealt with the douane; but she had not once taken her eyes off the planet above which they hung suspended. Its atmosphere seemed to ripple almost imperceptibly, like the surface of a clear pond disturbed by a single solitary dew drop whose ripples caused the beads of reflected sunlight to dance ever so slightly on the water. Nevar’ija knew that the movement was that of millions upon millions of speeders and taxis soaring on the airways between the high-rising buildings of the Republic’s capital: Coruscant, the planet-wide city. It seemed as though she could feel the life-energy of the planet from all the way up in space--the planet’s ripples resounded in her body like small vibrations. Was she feeling life through the Force? Or was that nerves and anxiety? 

The inner trembling intensified as the shuttle dropped lower and entered the planet’s atmosphere proper. Nevar’ija took a deep breath to steady her shaking soul and was surprised and relieved to find that at least her breath wasn’t shaky, that her physical exterior didn’t mimic whatever it was she felt on the inside. The closer they drew to the planet, the more different buildings and structures started to take on distinct shapes. Nevar’ija leaned ever so slightly closer to the window, careful to affect an aura of calm disinterest--just another Jedi lost in important Jedi thoughts while the world around them came into focus. But inside she was on fire. The trembling in her soul had sparked into a low-burning flame of anticipation and it took all her self-control not to press her nose to the window like a child and stare wide-eyed at a planet she had never dreamed she would see; at a planet she still wasn’t sure she had the right to set foot on. She was so singularly focused on controlling herself while devouring the cityscape with hungry eyes that she didn’t even notice that Master Orgus had seated himself next to her at the beginning of the descent and observed her now with a fond smile, perhaps the only one not fooled by her outward show of nonchalance.

The shuttle approached the spaceport. In the few moments after it had cleared the tall buildings in the sector and before it entered the hangar Nevar’ija caught a glimpse of the most magnificent building she had ever seen--including the Jedi Temple on Tython. “The Senate Tower,” she whispered to herself, and there was a low reverence in her voice that betrayed her wonder. 

“Just wait ‘till you see the inside, if you think it’s impressive now,” Master Orgus said. 

“Master?” Nevar’ija peeled her eyes away from the cityscape, which was now obscured by the metal interior of the spaceport hangar, to frown at her former master. When Master Kiwiiks had instructed them to meet her at the Senate Tower on Coruscant, Nevar’ija had not registered that she would, indeed, be going  _ inside _ the Tower herself. 

“What, you didn’t think we were going to have a top-security meeting in the plaza outside the Tower, did you?” Master Orgus asked, a mild note of amusement underneath that dead-pan tone of his. 

“I… suppose I hadn’t thought about it,” Nevar’ija murmured, turning her gaze away so that Master Orgus did not see her embarrassment and apprehension. 

They joined the queue to disembark the shuttle and checked in at the security terminals outside the hanger before taking the lift down to the exit level. They stepped out of the spaceport and onto one of the many raised walkways in the city, and Nevar’ija was struck by how incredibly  _ unlike _ Tython Coruscant was. She had not left Tython since arriving there nearly 10 years prior; peaceful streams and sweeping hills coated in trees whose leaves rustled in the breeze while the uxibeasts grazed was all she knew of the galaxy outside of Sith Space. Having spent most of her youngest years between Dromund Kaas and Korriban, she knew nothing of large cities and had never seen a world so devoid of nature. Even Korriban, the horrible desert world of her ancestors, was more sweeping plains of dust and towering canyons of red rock than man-made structures of steel. She fought not to gape now at the endless buildings jutting up into the sky and fading off into some unknowable depth too far below to see, threaded together with walkways and noisy intersecting lanes of airway traffic. Everywhere in all directions: steel and neon lights. She wondered if there were any remnants of the planet’s original vegetation and landscape anywhere on this monstrous testament to industrialism. 

“It’s a little overwhelming here after Tython, I know,” Master Orgus said, coming up beside her. T7 rolled out behind them and offered a few beeps and whistles in agreement with the Jedi Master.

“Do you know this from experience?” Nevar’ija asked the droid with a little chuckle of amusement. Yes, indeed, she could see how it would be very easy to lose oneself in this city.

T7 just beeped evasively in response. 

“The Senate Tower is just ahead of us. We had better get going, it doesn’t sound like this is the kind of emergency that can wait on a bit of sightseeing,” Master Orgus said, not unkindly.

They walked quickly along the walkway, buffeted by the breeze from passing speeders and blinded by early morning sun. They passed first one towering statue, then a taxi station, then another towering statue. Nevar’ija absorbed as much of the view as she possibly could, determined not to let her childlike wonder impede the mission but entirely unable to keep herself from staring around at everything. Was she really there? Was she dreaming? Speeders and aliens flew past in milliseconds, buildings seemed to leap and duck out from behind one another, and the city’s decor winked enticingly with the light of the sun. It was as though Coruscant itself was aware of Nevar’ija’s presence and it was beckoning to her, welcoming her, drawing her into its vibrant network, making her a part of the blood-flow of the Republic’s heart.  _ This is it. I’m here. I’m…. here.  _ Her brain couldn’t quite wrap itself around that reality, around the fact that her feet touched the centre of the Republic she’d struggled so hard to be a part of and that just like that she ran with the current of lives that were the Republic’s beating heart. 

It almost took her by surprise when she realised they had attained the plaza in front of the Senate Tower. She gazed up at the massive building and slowed just for a second. Was she really about to pass under that grand archway, decked in flags of blue and gold silk, which dwarfed what was already an impressively large and immaculate door? Her heart throbbed painfully in her chest as she drew closer. She’d fallen significantly behind Master Orgus now, but moving her feat forward was getting harder and harder. Was she ready? Was she  _ deserving?  _ A sith pureblood to enter the Senate Tower… 

Nevar’ija took a deep, steadying breath. T7, rolling along beside her, whooed in confusion. “It’s alright, buddy. Just a little nervous for my first proper mission and all,” she half-lied unsteadily, placing a hand on T7’s head. 

The last few steps. She passed through the door into the entrance lobby of the Senate Tower--a great circular room with holo-projections of current senators all around, bedecked in yet more hangings of gold and blue silk. Her whole body had become a pounding heart-beat and she couldn’t focus properly. On the one hand, everything had become a blur of crimson and cream marble, gold silk, and sheer giddy disbelief; on the other, every pillar, every cloth draping, every artistic decoration stood out in high relief and the different colours had become almost painfully accentuated--unequivocally and undeniably  _ real _ . 

“Keep up, young one; this building is just as labyrinthine as the city outside and now’s not the moment to get lost,” Master Orgus said from a few feet away, his voice echoing in the large marble chamber.

Nevar’ija anchored herself with his voice and regained a slightly clearer perception of her surroundings as she rushed toward Master Orgus, still holding onto T7. They were familiar, safe; associated not with a dream Nevar’ija hadn’t expected to realise, but rather with something of a comfortable illusion of that same dream. 

They weaved through hallways--maze-like indeed; Nevar’ija could not understand how Master Orgus knew the way. In a few moments, the hallway suddenly erupted into a great chamber the sight of which knocked Nevar’ija’s breath away. A long central nave, lit by natural light that cascaded down through skylight windows, gave way to side-isles on both sides supported by a magnificent row of polychronous pillars: blue marble with gold decorated gold rings at the junctions to the capitol and base, which were of grey and maroon transparisteel embedded with vertical lights of bright white, almost light a raised lightsaber. The side-isles were two levels. On the bottom level that Nevar’ija could see, half arches supported the ceiling. In between the half arches, stately statues of silver depicting humanoid forms in triumph towered over benches of steel covered in dark red silk cushions. The crown-mouldings of the walls were of gold, lined by yellow and red decorative frescoes. In between the pillars, hanging off the second level, were yet more blue and gold banners, identical to the three that hung off the high arched ceiling at the far end of the hall. A nice red and gold carpet lined the side-isles, while the central floor was of light grey steel decorated with symmetrical geometric designs in red and gold. 

It took Nevar’ija a moment to remember how to breathe.

Never before had she seen such spectacular beauty, such noble pathos expressed in stone, steel, and silk.

_ I can’t believe I’m here.  _

_ I can’t believe…  _

A sudden, intense,  _ desperate _ need to prove that she was deserving of this great honour, that she was deserving of the place where she stood, consumed by the physical manifestation of everything she strove to be a part of, struck Nevar’ija painfully in the chest. 

Before Master Orgus could realise that she had fallen behind again, the young Jedi forced her legs to propel her toward him, under an archway in the left side-isle. She was there to do a mission. This mission was her chance to prove that she was worthy of this invitation, of her rank as Jedi Knight, of her haven which was the Republic. Perhaps if she made everyone see how completely she had devoted herself to everything the Republic stood for, to the Republic itself, she would start to believe that she was not dreaming--she would be able to breathe again.  _ They have to know. They have to know the reverence I have for this place, not as a structure, but as the symbol for my salvation--for the galaxy’s salvation.  _


End file.
